UAS Sensors and Data Collection

  Introduction This covers flights from week 12 through week 14 at the Purdue wildlife area. Both Fieldnotes and deliverables from all the flights are included. The study area was very dynamic as it had changed from going from dormant grass to starting to green. There was a new construction development that was being worked on. And there were multiple controlled burns, and vegetation regrowth after the burns. There is a lot captured in just 3 datasets.  Week 12 Introduction This was the first field outing to the Purdue wildlife area this year, the goal was to collect the first dataset. Upon arrival, the ground control points were laid out in the field and the locations were noted in our fieldnote books. Then the teams each flew a mission flight to collect data over the field with a Mavic 2 Pro. Study Area The study area was over the southwestern portion of the PWA fields, from the construction site to the fields that were getting ready to be burnt. The salamander tanks were al...

Introduction This blog is about using ARC pro to gather volumetric data from imagery captured with drone flights. Using drones to collect data in this way is much quicker and safer than other methods.  Methods ARC Pro tools  There are 4 main tools we use in ARC Pro for volumetric analysis, extract by mas, resample, surface volume, and cut fill. The task that each one does is described in detail below Extract by mask allows for a specific area of a dataset to be clipped out for either visualization or processing. Resample changes the spatial resolution of the dataset and downsamples the resolution so it can process faster and keep a reasonable amount of precision. Surface volume is a tool that is used to calculate the volume displaced above a certain elevation and that volume and surface area is calculated. Cut-Fill compares 2 datasets and shows the differences in the height and volume of them with showing the areas net gain, net loss, and unchanged elevations. This is a qualit...

 Introduction The Bramor platform is a catapult launch and parachute landing UAS. It has an endurance of nearly 3 hours. Purdue has 2 versions of the platform, one has an Altum sensor the other has a Sony Alpha 6000 camera. Both platforms tie their data into PPK (post-processing kinematics) to allow for corrections without the need for ground control points. For learning these platforms we went through a variety of steps as they are complex aircraft. We began with learning how to fold the parachute, then going through the checklist and setting up the aircraft, as well as learning their software for developing flight plans.  Parachute Folding Folding the parachute properly is critical to the operation of the Bramor as it is its method of landing. The PowerPoint describes the folding of the parachute to aid in a visual representation of the aircraft manual.   Checklist The setup process if this aircraft can best be described as a dance, with both personnel working in t...